Considerate Constructors Scheme launches in Ireland

The Considerate Constructors Scheme - the organisation established to improve the image of the construction industry - is now international, having launched its first registered site in Ireland.

The Scheme is delighted to welcome its first contractor to register projects in Ireland - family owned John Sisk & Son - a member of the international construction company, SISK Group.

The first registered Irish site is located at The Exchange, which forms part of the International Financial Services Centre at the heart of Dublin’s financial district. This project involves the construction of a six-storey office block with a basement car park and two retail units at street level.

The Scheme – which introduced site registration in the UK in 1997 – has received increasing interest from contractors with sites in Ireland asking to register construction activity. All are keen to improve the image and reputation of the construction industry, in line with the Scheme’s Code of Considerate Practice, which commits those registered to care about appearance, respect the community, protect the environment, secure everyone’s safety and value their workforce.

Sisk led the pilot of site registration to help ensure that this model of registration within the Irish construction industry was appropriate and fully tried and tested, before making it available to all construction activity in Ireland.

Edward Hardy, chief executive of the Considerate Constructors Scheme Chief, said: “The opportunity for contractors to now register sites in Ireland is a huge step forward for the Considerate Constructors Scheme. With over 18,000 monitoring visits to UK-based sites, companies, and suppliers every year, the Scheme is highly regarded across the construction industry as a central part of instigating positive long-lasting change, for the benefit of the workforce, local communities and the environment.

“We are delighted to now be able to provide monitoring and support services to Irish-based construction sites to help raise their standards beyond statutory requirements – pushing the bar of considerate construction to a new level in Ireland.”

Brian Handcock, head of sustainability at Sisk, added: “We are proud to have worked with the Considerate Constructors Scheme to deliver the first project registered in Ireland. Indeed, Sisk was one of the early supporters of the Scheme, and has attained the highest standards possible on its projects on numerous occasions.

“As a business that is over 158 years old and with over 1,300 staff employed, it is important to all of us to be recognised for the good work our industry does for the communities, workforce and environment that we live in, are a part of and care for. Being part of the Considerate Constructors Scheme gives us an objective viewpoint of our performance, helping us and the wider industry to improve our image and reputation. We look forward to seeing the Scheme being taken up by our peers across Ireland so that the whole industry benefits.”